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New York state now has more than 300 breweries -- the most since before Prohibition

Updated on May 5, 2017 at 3:18 PMPosted on February 1, 2017 at 4:33 PM

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Images from some of the breweries that have opened across New York state in the past year, clockwise from top left: Bottles at the Suarez Family Brewery in Livingston, Columbia County; the sign at Big Slide Brewery & Public House just outside Lake Placid; owners Nick Eldred and Mike Mintier at IBU in North Syracuse; bottles on the line at Empire Farm Brewery in Cazenovia; and beer from Three Heads Brewing Co. in Rochester.
(Don Cazentre)

The total number of breweries in the state has now surpassed 300 -- more than at any time since before Prohibition, according to the New York State Brewers Association. There were 350 before Prohibition. After Prohibition, and up to the craft brewing surge that started in the 1980s, there were never more than a handful.

"At the rate we're going, we should have more than 350 by the summer or fall," said Paul Leone, executive director of the NYSBA.

The growth has been rapid in the past decade or so, and explosive in the past five years, Leone said. When the state brewers association was founded in 2003, there were just 38 breweries in the state.

The real boom began in 2013, when the state created a farm brewery license, offering tax benefits and relaxed regulations to breweries who use New York-grown or produced ingredients.

Leone took over as the association's first full time director in June 2013, and his count then was 130 breweries in New York. So the number has more than doubled in the past 3 1/2 years.

Even more important, Leone said, was the legal change the following year that allows brewers to sell beer by the glass in their tasting rooms. Before that, brewers were limited to offering samples, usually free, and selling beer in packages to go.

"Once brewers could sell by the sell by the pint, they were able to change their business plans," Leone said. "Now they had revenue that allowed new breweries to open and the older ones to expand."

The official count of New York breweries now stands at 326, Leone said, although that includes a handful that have more then one location. Still, he said, the number of different brewing companies has clearly passed the 300 mark.

The state brewers association estimates the combined economic impact of the state's breweries at $4 billion per year.

New breweries are popping up all over the state, Leone said. The Hudson Valley, "from Albany down to Yonkers," is seeing the strongest growth. Both Long Island and the Finger Lakes are also home to surging numbers, he said.